It's 1:29 a.m. and I've been up for the past two and a half hours (I anticipated being in bed by eleven) listening to bits and pieces of 23 different albums released in 2002 to jog my memory on why I enjoyed them.

I even thought of stretching this year's top ten into a top 15. I could easily choose 15, and in fact have, but decided against it to make things that much more challenging.

The preliminary rough draft of this list is done. Well, the list isn't as complete as I thought. I have one album that has thus far ended up in the top ten by default, as there was one slot left and one album not placed. That will half to be fixed.

The selection process isn't all that scientific, actually. I keep a list of CD's I buy, put asterisks next to those released this year, and at the end of the year, make a rough cut, narrowing it down by about half just by looking at the list. That's easy.

But taking those 23 and narrowing them to ten? It's like a Ms. America pagaent. All different genres from all different walks of life, all competing for the "fame" that comes with a top ten spot.

When it's at 23 (this time it was at 23 at least), I begin narrowing by listening for about five-ten minutes an album to jog my memory, and then write them on the top or bottom half of a piece of paper. The top half makes the top ten. The bottom may not.

I really need to scan it once the list has been revealed to show you exactly what I mean. Or I could scan it now. It's not like most of you can read my notes, anyway. Well, one of you can.

So I've been doing that since 11. It's 1:37 now. All I know is that: a) the list surprised me a bit, b) the list is eclectic c) the other 13 deserve an honorable mention and d) this wasn't as bad of a year for music as I thought.

Note: It's now 2:02. Why am I still awake, let alone at the computer?

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